StreamYard vs api.video Pricing (2026)
How do these two stack up on price? Here's what each one costs, what you get, and where the value sits.
| StreamYard | api.video | |
|---|---|---|
| Starts at | $44/mo | Custom |
| Number of plans | 3 | 2 |
| Free plan | ||
| Free trial | ||
| Pricing model | flat-rate | usage-based |
Free
- StreamYard logo in your streams
- Streaming limits
- Limited storage
- Dark mode
- Local recordings - 2 hours/mo
- 6 on-screen participants
- 1 seat
Core
- Full HD (1080p)
- No StreamYard logo on your streams
- Multistream - 3 destinations
- Logos, Overlays, Video clips, Backgrounds
- 10 on-screen participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 2 hours
- Unlimited streaming and recording
- Live streams are recorded
- Unlimited local recordings
- Custom RTMP destinations
- Guest destinations
- 50 hours of permanent storage
- Intro and Outro video
- AI clips
- Custom referral message
- +16 custom layouts
- Cloud recording
- Chat Overlay
- Clean thumbnails, no watermark
- AI Backgrounds
Advanced
Popular- 4K (2160p) local recordings
- Multistream - 8 destinations
- Extra camera
- 15 backstage participants
- Pre-recorded streams - 4 hours
- On-Air webinars - 100 viewers
- Custom fonts
- Download transcripts
Pay as you go
- 100 Upload API calls/min
- 200 Write API calls/min
- 500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 5 days)
- No isolated storage
- No security review
- 99.999%
- Public Terms
- Credit Card, Apple Pay, SEPA (on request), Monthly Billing
Enterprise plan
- 200 Upload API calls/min
- 1000 Write API calls/min
- 2500 Read API calls/min
- Audit Logs (up to 60 days) & Domain Referrer
- Isolated storage
- Security Reviews
- 99.999% + SLA credits
- Signed MSA, SLA, DPA
- Wire Transfer, Annual Billing, Payment schedules
StreamYard vs api.video FAQ
- Which one is cheaper?
- One or both use custom pricing, so it depends on your specific needs.
- Can I use either one for free?
- Both offer free plans, so you can try each without paying. Start with whichever fits your workflow better and upgrade when you hit the limits.
- How do they charge?
- Different approach here. StreamYard uses flat-rate pricing, while api.video goes with usage-based. That changes the math depending on your team size and usage.
- Which one is a better deal?
- Depends on what you need. StreamYard: Sitting mid-to-premium for a live-streaming/podcast tool — pricier than bare-bones alternatives like Restream's entry tiers, but justified by StreamYard's polish and ease of use for non-technical creators. They're clearly optimizing for solo creators and small businesses who'll pay a premium for simplicity, not agencies or large teams who'd need to go the custom Business route. api.video: Free encoding is the hook that makes them look cheap compared to competitors who meter every processing step, but the real cost lives in storage and delivery at scale. They're positioned to win developers and startups who want to test video infrastructure without upfront commitment, then grow into heavier usage.
Still deciding? See the best StreamYard alternatives or the best api.video alternatives, ranked with verified pricing.
Keep tabs on both.
We'll monitor pricing changes for StreamYard and api.video and let you know when something moves. See how competitor pricing monitoring works.